Dallas: Round 20 preview

FORCE RETURNS TO DALLAS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ACCIDENT AS SERIES
CONTINUES MARCH TO TITLES
DALLAS -- John Force may have reenacted the moments before, during
and after his accident last year at Texas Motorplex over and again in his
head. On...

FORCE RETURNS TO DALLAS FOR FIRST TIME SINCE ACCIDENT AS SERIES
CONTINUES MARCH TO TITLES

DALLAS -- John Force may have reenacted the moments before, during
and after his accident last year at Texas Motorplex over and again in his
head. On Monday, he'll do it again, this time in reverse.

Force will travel by medical helicopter from a nearby airport to the top
end of Texas Motorplex, where, Ike permitting, he'll address the
same media that charted his progress post-accident last fall.

It's not time travel and it's not rewriting history.
It's more like a giant mental reset button that's the next
best thing to erasing, correcting and cementing what's been done.
It's healing a spot that's been raw for much too long.

From the starting line the Force-Kenny Bernstein accident really
didn't appear that serious. A cloud of what looked like dust and
smoke formed at the top end, but even that is not unusual. Then NHRA
announcer Bob Frey addressed the crowd and from his tone of voice it was
clear the drivers had undergone four seconds of trauma most fans
mercifully could not see.

It's not overdramatic to say something in the NHRA POWERade Series
world shifted that day. What perhaps stands out even more than the
accident itself are the safety developments that have already resulted
and continue to emerge from it. Force and Bernstein want it that way.

The hunger for forward progress, more than grief, self-pity or
helplessness, has been a motivation.

NHRA, John Force Racing and many other NHRA POWERade Series teams are
working together to make a safe sport better in ways no one would have
dreamed up before. And now, on a list of iconic footage from this
generation of drag racing, the images of Force from accident to walker to
healed and driving again have been added.

Many of the tracks on the NHRA POWERade Series made immediate changes to
their facilities to accommodate new, yet heavily evaluated ideas. Texas
Motorplex is one.

"I'm excited Billy Meyer (Texas Motorplex owner) is making
additional safety improvements to the Texas Motorplex," Force said.
"As a former Funny Car driver, Billy has always wanted what is best
for the racers. He has always been an innovator and I think the changes
he is making to his track, especially the longer sand pit, will give
drivers a better chance to avoid serious injuries."

No matter what, for Force the trip is mental as much as it is symbolic.
The O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals is the
second of four races in a five-week period that's sure to test the
perseverance of those drivers still in the hunt for 2008 NHRA POWERade
Series world championship titles, and John Force hasn't had the
best of luck lately on the track. He has posted DNQs (did not qualify) at
the last two races. Force hopes to fare better starting this weekend,
where he, his daughter Ashley, his son-in-law Robert Hight and rookie
Mike Neff, a favorite for this year's Auto Club Road to the Future
award, continue to be in the hunt for this year's season
title. Jack Beckman continues to sizzle in the category as the winner of
the last three races. Defending NHRA POWERade world champion Tony
Pedregon also remains a man to beat. He won in Dallas in 2007.

Tony Schumacher has decimated the rest of the Top Fuel category after
getting early-season threats from the two-car David Powers Motorsports
team of Rod Fuller and Antron Brown. Schumacher earned a category
record 53rd career win yesterday at zMax Dragway in Concord, N.C., moving
past Joe Amato. The victory was also his seventh in a row and 12th of the
season, also NHRA records. Larry Dixon won at Texas Motorplex in 2007.

Kurt Johnson raced to a runner-up finish in Charlotte to take over the
POWERade Series points lead. Regular season champ Greg Anderson is
looking to get back on track, as is Dave Connolly, the defending event
winner, who made the playoffs despite missing the first five races of the
year.

In Pro Stock Motorcycle, defending NHRA POWERade Series world champion
Matt Smith continues to lead the category, but don't count out
red-hot Steve Johnson who has won the last two events and moved into
second in the points standings with his Charlotte win yesterday. Last
year's surprise winner in Dallas, Peggy Llewellyn, is a San Antonio
native who recently rejoined the tour.

SCHEDULE: The first two of four pro qualifying sessions are scheduled for
3 and 5:45 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 19. Qualifying continues at 11:15 a.m.
and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20. Final eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
on Sunday, Sept. 21.